Some children were having fun beside the clear stream at the west end of the town.
There was skipping rubber rope, which Lu Ming had only seen in old TV dramas. It involved two kids stretching a rubber rope at one end and several kids jumping in the middle.
The height of the rubber band started out hanging at the knees, and then slowly increased, and the children who couldn't jump were slowly eliminated.
Now, the rubber band has been held above the head by the children on each end, with their arms stretched out. The children who were playing originally could not jump so high.
Of the two little figures who were still jumping with rubber bands, only Big Guo and Little Guo were left.
The children nearby were watching and cheering in admiration.
I saw Xiao Guo and Da Guo, just like they were in a martial arts movie. Each time they jumped up with their backs turned, they hooked the rubber band with their toes, and moved their feet quickly and alternately a few times. The rubber band bounced back quickly, and then they repeated the action again.
It looks like the two little guys can keep jumping like this.
Although they were wearing cloth clothes and cloth pants, and their originally picturesque faces had been transformed into the appearance of ordinary pretty girls, their graceful figures could not be concealed. At this moment, they were jumping rubber ropes in a very neat manner, and it looked like they were doing a graceful dance. Their postures were extremely pleasing to the eye.
The children were all stunned and cheered loudly from time to time.
Lu Ming sat beside the stream, and Ashikaga Erika also sat beside him. Looking at the children skipping rubber rope, Lu Ming noticed that for the first time, there was a hint of longing between Erika's brows.
Professor Song was accompanied by a team leader to deal with the town's affairs. Of course, he was only there to offer suggestions for reference only.
Lu Ming strolled around and came to the place at the west end of the town where children gathered to play.
Maybe because of Erika, the children did not run away. Some of them stayed and were very curious about this colorful beautiful girl who seemed to be from another world and they had never seen before. They all looked at her from afar. Children's eyes are the purest and they usually like and yearn for beautiful things.
If they had lived in a black and white world before, this was the first time they saw the colorful world.
And as Daguo and Xiaoguo started playing with them, more and more children came.
At this time, Lu Ming's feet were stepping in the clear stream, and he was also very comfortable. Maybe because of the environment, he was more childish. He glanced at Erika and said, "Let's go catch some fish?" Then he shook his head and said, "The little fish are so innocent. Don't disturb them. If you ask me, you should give them a quick death if they eat fish and meat."
"Yes." Erika turned her head, her gaze shifted from the children jumping rope to Lu Ming, her expression became dull again.
Lu Ming smiled and said, "After walking all day, your feet must be tired. Look, it's very refreshing for someone like me. The water is cool, and it feels so comfortable flowing over my feet!"
Erika didn't seem to want to do this, but after hearing what Lu Ming said, she untied her clogs and snow-white tabi and said softly, "Yes, Master."
In Yingzhou, the wife respectfully addresses her husband as "master", not to mention concubines.
Although Lu Ming had long been numb to the title of master, he didn't know why, when this beautiful girl in kimono who looked like she came out of a comic book gently called him "Master", his heart trembled slightly and he had a strange feeling. Even though her voice was so gentle and there was actually no emotion in it.
Erika was seen folding the snow-white tabi neatly and placing it beside her together with the wooden clogs, revealing a pair of white, tender and crystal clear little snow-white feet. Those snow-white feet without a single flaw were like beautiful curves carefully carved out, and at this moment they slowly extended into the clear stream, it was simply a magnificent picture.
Lu Ming coughed and looked away.
Looking at the lush green fields in the distance, Lu Ming asked casually, "Ashikaga, this is a very noble surname in Yingzhou. The ruling regent who was ousted by General Yamamoto in a coup not long ago was also Ashikaga. Um, his name is Ashikaga Yoshitaka, right?"
Unexpectedly, Ashikaga Erika trembled slightly, was silent for a while, and whispered: "Ashikaga Yoshitaka is my grandfather."
Huh? Lu Ming turned around and looked at her in surprise. This was something he had never expected. Even Asaba Yoshiko had never mentioned it.
But I didn't expect that she came from such a prominent family.
Ashikaga Kanpaku was an out-and-out royalist, extremely loyal to the queen and dreamed of restoring her power.
This angered the lords of all sizes in Japan. Among them, the most powerful group of lords, the Kansai Group, was led by Yamamoto Yu.
He launched a coup d'état, imprisoned Ashikaga Yoshitaka, and arrested all important members of the Ashikaga family.
Yamamoto Yunori appointed himself as prime minister, also learning from the Kingdom of Griffinni and governing in the capacity of prime minister.
Traditionally, the ruling minister of Japan was called Kanpaku.
Of course, the actual title of Kanpaku has a different meaning in this world, and Lu Ming automatically converted everything into words that he is more familiar with.
Lu Ming didn't know much about Japan. He only had a superficial understanding. After all, he felt that it was still far away from his own circle.
He never expected that the Kanpaku's granddaughter would suddenly become his concubine.
Yes, only with such bloodline can such a beauty be born.
Did Asaba Yoshiko do this on purpose? Did she not tell me her true identity because she was afraid that I would get into trouble and stay away from her
But then again, how could the former regent's granddaughter, who was also extremely beautiful, end up in the hands of Asaba Nagamasa and Asaba Yoshiko? And how could they be used to win over the warlords in the Northern Territory
The Japanese people are very particular about blood ties, how could they accept this? They would rather execute Erika than do this, right
I'm afraid there are a lot of twists and turns here.
After thinking about it, he casually said, "Well, in this case, I can't help much. I originally wanted to hear Mrs. Qianyu say that your family is suffering, and see if I can save them. We can only wait and see!" The words in his heart came out unconsciously.
After saying this, Lu Ming was stunned and shook his head. This news was really too weird and surprised him greatly, so he blurted out these words unconsciously.
In the past, I basically did more and said less, except in court, when I seldom spoke much, let alone things that I couldn't do, but I would talk about them as if to ask people to be grateful.
Ashikaga Erika was stunned and looked at Lu Ming. For the first time, there was a slight change in her starry eyes.
"When the Luodu Incident happened, I was traveling in the East China Sea... My grandfather and father were very good to me, and I, I was free..." Ashikaga Erika lowered her head sadly.
After a while, she wiped her eyes gently and said, "I heard the news about the Luodu Incident. Kyoko... Kyoko is like my own sister. She has been with me since I was a child."
Lu Ming nodded slightly, just like a personal maid of the Zhongzhou people.
"Kyoko took me to change clothes and headed north to seek refuge. She said she had trustworthy relatives in the northern region who she could rely on."
"But, but when we arrived in Xin'an, we were caught..."
"We were under house arrest together. No one questioned me, but Kyoko was taken away many times. Later, she said that the people who arrested us were in cahoots with everyone and that she had a way to prevent me from being sent back to Luodu. After that, I never saw her again... The one who took me away became Sister Fangzi."
"Sister Yoshiko brought me a letter from Kyoko, advising me... Sister Yoshiko also said that if I could marry a powerful man from Nakasu and please him, maybe I could help Grandpa and Father..."
At this point, Ashikaga Erika's gentle voice came to an abrupt halt, and a look of panic appeared on her delicate little face.
It has been a long time since I last talked to anyone, and I was so excited that I blurted out things that I shouldn't have said.
Lu Ming sneered in his heart, but his face showed helplessness: "This is terrible. I have no power or influence. I am just a spy chief in a small place. I am afraid I can't help at all. Are you disappointed?"
"No, no..." Ashikaga Erika was so anxious that she was about to cry, and she didn't know how to explain. She suddenly stood up from the water, knelt in front of Lu Ming, and in desperation, she mumbled in Japanese, probably confessing her guilt. The Japanese language has a very beautiful tone, and her soft voice has an indescribable sweetness, as if she was saying that the guilty girl should be cut into pieces.
Looking at her expression, and thinking about her experience and current mood, Lu Ming sighed inwardly and said, "It's okay, I was just kidding you."
After thinking for a while, he said: "I can't help you with anything else for now, but if your maid Kyoko is still in Xin'an, I might be able to help you find her. However, you have to be mentally prepared, maybe she will betray you..." He didn't say anything else, unable to bear revealing some cruel truth. After all, Erika's life was already miserable enough.
"No, no..." Erika shook her head, "I asked Sister Yoshiko, I want to see Kyoko, Sister Yoshiko said, Kyoko, Kyoko is serving a very disgusting man for me..." Erika lowered her head sadly, "So, that person reported to Luodu, saying that I have been abused by many people, and I have, have some disease..., and the people in Luodu no longer pay attention to me..."
"Because of me, Xin'an also executed many people... They were wrongly accused and tortured..."
Erika wiped her tears, "I, I really deserve to die..."
Lu Ming was helpless. What was this little guy thinking? He was wronged because of you. It should be that the Japanese intelligence agents were just fighting each other and taking the opportunity to eliminate dissidents. Those who could take such a blame had a good character and most of them must have a criminal record.
Because of you, probably many scumbags got what they deserved.
But he couldn't say that. Lu Ming coughed and said, "So, you have to work harder and stay alive, so that they won't lose their lives in vain."
Erika lowered her head and said, "Yes, Sister Fangzi said the same thing! So, I will try my best!"
Lu Ming smiled: "Then I will work hard and try to climb up. I hope that one day, I can rescue your family!"
Erika was stunned, and looked at Lu Ming with her sparkling eyes. Her pretty face was slightly touched.
Lu Ming looked towards the path and smiled, "Okay, put on your shoes and socks, someone is coming!"
…
Several people came hurriedly, led by Squire Ma.
Mr. Ma is a man in his forties, gentle and calm. He went to university in the provincial capital. After returning to his hometown, he changed the tradition of his father's generation and set up a school, did charity work, built a factory in Ma Ming Town, and opened a department store in the county seat.
Ten years ago, he even donated money to buy the title of "local gentleman".
At that time, the provincial governor Ren Zhonglin was keen on selling these titles. However, except in the provincial capital, these titles could not play any protective role in other places, and there were no privileges, so gradually no one was interested.
Although Mr. Ma's department store, factory and fields were all robbed, he still had some reputation, and the soldiers did not make things too difficult for him. His family lived a relatively worry-free life. In addition to his savings, he was also given the title of education committee member of the town.
He also tried his best to maintain the primary school he founded in the town, which has not been closed to this day.
Speaking of which, this can really be called a local celebrity who benefits his neighbors.
This is why the new mayor of the town initially agreed to return part of his land to him, and it was because of this that he admired him very much.
"Commissioner Zhang, I heard you were here!" Walking closer, Mr. Ma took off his hat and bowed slightly. Then he saw Ashikaga Erika sitting behind Lu Ming. A hint of surprise flashed in his eyes, but he quickly turned his eyes away.
Lu Ming smiled and said, "I should have visited, but the scenery here is so beautiful that I forgot about it and missed the time."
Seeing that Commissioner Zhang was so polite, Mr. Ma was slightly relieved. However, the real spy chiefs were mostly smiling tigers, and those ferocious monsters were usually just small minions at the execution level.
"My family has prepared the food. I wonder if I would have the honor to invite the Commissioner to come to my humble home. I have also prepared guest rooms and a small courtyard for you. As for the countryside, if there is anything that is not to your satisfaction, please let me know, Commissioner Zhang." Mr. Ma was very humble and made a gesture of invitation.
Lu Ming smiled and said, "Okay, sorry for bothering you. Then, shall we go and take a look?"
Some of the people behind Mr. Ma were delighted. If the biggest spy chief in Nanping came to eat and stay at the master's residence, what was there to be afraid of? Those thugs were all idle ruffians and scoundrels. How dare they take the opportunity to bully the master
Only Mr. Ma had a worried look in his eyes. He had seen a lot of things in the world, so how could things in the world be so simple